lovermonkey

Roughly about 9am. The problem is getting off the ship. They were going to call by deck for people that were doing self check out, but it didn't work out. Alot of people were just going anyway, so they stopped calling decks after 1. A lady around us went to guess services and they pretty much said you are on your own. So we got in line quick.

We stayed at the hotel for a bit until everyone started to get hungry again. This time I had not thought up of any place to go for dinner. So I suggested walking around little Italy until we found something to eat. After walking around for 20 minutes it was obvious we didn’t know where we were going. You would think I would know where I was going since I have been memorizing the inner harbor map for two years. But atlas, we were lost. LOL. Lucky for us we started heading back to the hotel when we hit MOs Fishman’s Wharf. Where I told everyone, look a seafood place. Kids gave me a dirty look but no one wanted to fight me, since we were having trouble finding a kid friendly place. Which was good for me. When we got inside, they immediately took us upstairs to be seated. I was planning on ordering crab but my stomach was giving me fits since I arrived in Baltimore, so I decided to go lite. I went with the crab cakes and the fiancée had the steak, shrimp, and a crab cake. Lisa told me she really loved the steak. Myself, the crab cakes were really good. They were lite and fluffy and kind of reminded me of like a very pleasant tuna salad. But in crab cake form. If you are in the area, I would highly suggest MOs. 4 people at Mos with tip was 134. They include the tip in the price.

After MOs we headed to CVS to buy soda and tastykakes. My fiancée really wanted to get them since we can’t get them in Chicago. So we bought them out. Apparently that happens a lot in Baltimore because they asked us where we were from. (We did the same thing on Monday at 7/11 by BWI. They asked us again where we were from)

We woke Sunday hoping to get a glimpse of the Pride, but with no luck. My plan was to head over to the Blue Moon Café for Capt Crunch French Toast, but time got away from us and I had to enact Plan B. Plan B was having breakfast at the hotel. And I must say they had really good breakfast. They had a buffet, but at 27 bucks a person we decided to just order off the menu. Which was the best thing for us since the food was awesome. If you do have breakfast at the restaurant in Marriott Waterfront Hotel, let me suggest the pancakes. They have a very strong vanilla flavor and were simply the best pancakes I have ever eaten. After breakfast the bellhop told me when I was ready he could get us a private car to the port for roughly 25 bucks. Told him I would come back at 10am.

Right after wards we went upstairs to see if we could see the Pride and again no luck. I went outside on the other side of the hotel and again no luck seeing the Pride. I then went to the 5th floor where the pool is. They have a huge balcony or whatever you call it right outside. I walked out on the balcony and waited. About 20 minutes later I saw her. Of course I took photos. It was the first time I saw her and it was exciting to see her waiting all this time. (Pics below)

First pic of Pride.

Balcony of Marriott.

Right in front of the Hotel

Hotel Resturant

Video of Carnival Pride coming in from the balcony of the Marriott.

Enjoying your review and pics! Looking forward to the rest of it!

 

Did you happen to go to Starry Nights and, if so, what was the band like? They had an awesome band, True Identity, that is now on the Splendor so was wondering who's playing there now. Heard they are from Texas and pretty good!

 

Thanks!

I do have a kind of half-ass photo of them. I walked in when they were on break. Took this photo as the lead guy was walking pass me. But I honest didn't get to listen to them or get their name. Sorry.

More photos of Inner Harbor.

First pic is the mall that has the fudgery.

Let me share with you a video I took from our hotel window. It is the Urban Pirates fighting in the Harbor.

My piece of fudge from the Fudgery.

More from the inner harbor

Dolphins and such.

9 year old today was telling me she misses the warmth and the buffet. (Me too)

Continuing where I left off, I am corrected by my fiancée that we had two cheeseburgers, 1 pork sandwich, and one hot dog for the 9 year at Hard Rock. Sorry about that. But it was still over 100 bucks.

So after having lunch at Hard Rock, kids wanted to goto the Aquarium. Which isn’t too far from the Hard Rock Café and Phillips. And I know you are thinking that Mark is just going to complain about the price, and you are right. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with paying the money for a good experience. And I really liked the aquarium. But there were a few things that could have been improved. To give you an idea, we again have 3 adults and 1 child going into the aquarium. Like everything in this world they have different packages. To be honest, I really wasn’t paying attention to the other packages. I just asked for the basic one. Which ran use 110 bucks. Now granted 110 isn’t too much money, so I really shouldn’t complain too much. But when you go in, it is like being in a horse corral. There are a lot of people going thru the exhibit and the corridors are small. And if you are in a certain part of an exhibit, there isn’t really an exit to get out of there if you start getting tired or etc. (Well not one that is easily seen) And I don’t think I saw any place to sit while going thru some of the exhibits. I think the basic package does include the dolphin show. The reason I say that is because we were allow to go into the dolphin show, but of course we didn’t get there in time so we had to wait. But the girls didn’t want to wait so we decided to check out more of the aquarium. The dolphins and the Jelly fish exhibit are awesome. (We didn’t see the dolphin show but we did get to see the dolphins playing) We ended up going to see the larger circular fish tank. There are actually people in scuba gear in there feeding the fish. But be prepared to walk, and there is no easy exit if the kids get tired. You have to walk in his spiral staircase around the fish tank. And of course there is no place to sit. (You can tell I had to listen to the family complain they were tired at this point)

After we left the aquarium, we sat out by the harbor before pressing on. I had heard that the Fudgery was really good, so my goal was to get everyone to check it out. It really didn’t take too much convincing. The family really loved the Fudgery. The Fudgery is located in a mall at the other side of the inner harbor. (By Ripley’s believe it or not) The guy who is making the fudge will sing as he is making the fudge. I really have to give kudos to the Fudgery. Of course, word to the wise. Don’t buy a lot of fudge before going on a cruise with an endless buffet. It is not a good idea. Even if your Fiancée thinks it is. You are probably thinking, “What Mark isn’t going to complain about the prices?” Actually the prices were not too bad. I would certainly suggest this place if you love fudge. (Remember fudge will get hard after a week. 9 year old complained because her piece was rock solid after a week. LOL) Afterwards we headed back to the hotel.

Cute video of dolphin at aquarium throwing cover out.

Of course we all love reviews with lots of pictures! I can't wait for the rest!

 

Small world... I grew up in Oswego!

No kidding. Like you said, small world.

Since I dont have access to my photos at work, I am going to give you a flash forward. Kind of like watching the show LOST. I have a video of the 9 year old swimming on the Pride. Will get back to review when I get home.

Those would be steamed hard shell crabs. If you need a hammer for a soft crab ... don't eat it. :eek:

Both are delicious though. Love the soft crab on fresh bread with LTM, s&p.

Now you've done it ... I want some.

Can you tell I dont know too much about sea food? I just like to eat it.

Just checking....:eek::)

Opps! Sorry! That was a typo.. I meant to say crab. Not crap. Their crab cakes are huge and delicious. And you get two in the meal. Wish I had ordered their soft shell crab they cover their tables and bring out the hammers. It looked good.

Subscribing. I look forward to reading more of your review.

Thank you! Will post more tomorrow.

Looking forward to your review.

I am sorry you missed Phillips Seafood. They are a staple in this area and good crab cakes.

Thank you. I did get my way that night. I got to check out Mo's. And they had the best crap cakes.

Some more photos of around Hard Rock Cafe etc..

Hello everyone. Was on the Carnival Pride on 4/14/13 and thought I would share my cruise experience. For anyone who doesn't know me, I am naturally sarcastic and a bit negative while writing my review. Don't take it that I didn't enjoy my cruise. On the contrary, it was fantastic. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

First off, there were four of us going on the cruise. Myself (Mark 45), my fiancee (Lisa 38), her daughters Katie (16) and Cheyanne. (9) We are coming in from the Chicago area. We booked this cruise right after our last cruise on the Triumph. Which was over 600 days. (I know. A terrible wait time for a cruise) We had gotten the idea from a Cruise Critic member who had joined us while we were on the Triumph. I must say, it was a great idea. So I booked the cruise. I have been researching everything from where to stay from Hotels to where to eat. I must say I got lucky on most of it.

(Just FYI, I love taking photos. Between all of us, we have over 2000 photos of the trip. Not to mention video)

We started our vacation on April 13th. I decided this time we were going to be in town a day before our cruise, just in case something happened. But my main intention was to check out the inner harbor. We left O'Hara airport for BWI and got in Baltimore around 9am. I got a Blue Shuttle which is located at the airport. The gentleman at the Blue Shuttle counter didn't really seem like he wanted to be there. So I gave him my paperwork for the shuttle and asked him what I needed to do next. He said, "Ahh, you have a question for me (No kidding, I thought). Just sit over there." Basically that is all he said. So of course we waited for a bit (aboutr 1/2 hr) until a blue shuttle arrived. The gentleman behind the counter said nothing, so we took it upon ourselves to go outside the terminal and see if that was our ride. The driver told us that he wouldn't be taking us, but one would be coming soon. At least the driver gave us more information than the the guy behind the counter. It was another 20 mins before our driver took us to the our hotel. Really nice guy but I think I would take the taxi next time. Blue Shuttle cost over 70 bucks to the inner harbor and that was not with tip.

We got to the Marriott Waterfront Hotel in the inner harbor. I must say it was a really nice hotel. Our room was facing the inner harbor, but we couldn't see the Carnival Pride coming in. Not a problem since our view was outstanding. The hotel even helped us print out another Carnival bag tag because stupid us put them on our luggage before we flew. So, of course the 9 year old's tag got ripped off. Not to mention a wheel from our luggage. The 9 year old thought that meant she wouldn't be able to board the ship. Yes, I messed with a bit on that. But told her the truth. She was happy after that, but was hungry.

We ventured out to find a place to eat. I had been dieing for seafood but the kids don't like it. Been pushing for Phillips Seafood for weeks, but the kids wouldn't go for it. So we went to Hard Rock Cafe instead. Hard Rock is a nice place and the food is ok, but it is on the expensive side. We got 4 burger meals and appetizers for over 100 bucks. Which I think is just a bit much for burgers. But the atmosphere is really nice instead. But I don't think I would do it again.

Will continue tomorrow if anyone is interested.

At Ohare here.

Inner Harbor from our Hotel

Walking in the Inner Harbor towards Hard Rock Cafe.

Hard Rock Cafe

Love your review.

I am sure you will have a great time! Sorry I didn't see your other message earlier, but I think there is a different line going to DC closer to Inner Harbour.

 

It was only $12/person out of BWI station, so a pretty inexpensive way to travel there, but it only runs on weekdays.

 

Jenn

 

PS ... To everyone, I haven't forgotten about the Fun Times, but work got in the way this week so I will try and get to them soon! Sorry for the delay! :)

Thank you. I did find that amtrak has one going on the weekends and they have one two miles away from the Marriot Waterfront Hotel. And I found a deal in Washington that we can ride the ducks as a tour. It sounded cool.

I want to thank you for the Washington Dc idea. Girlfriend wanted to go there very badly. So we have decided to go.

Is there a way to get to Washington DC from the inner harbor? We have a hotel in the inner harbor. Just wanted to know how easy is it to get to Washington, dc the way you did.

Wednesday morning we were pulling into Port Canaveral, forecast was Sunny and 23 degrees, perfect! We had booked the Islands of Adventure excursion through Carnival. I am a huge Harry Potter fan so I had been looking forward to this day for a very long time!

I just noticed this. I hope it is a type-o, abou the 23 degrees?

The kids kept asking me if all people bring horses on the cruise and if you would be on our cruise. I had to explain. LOL. :) It was a long story.

Thanks again. I love reading your review. Awesome job, again. :D

Thank you. The kids are yelling in the background about your horse. If you can sneak a photo of your horse that too would be good too. thanks.

Thank you much for this review with photos. We are taking the kids to do the extact same thing aboard the Pride.

If you have more photos and such for Univsal, I would really like to see. We are planning on going to the Harry Potter thing too, so if you could give us a more play by play, that would be great. You were saying you had to go to the back of he park first for Harry Potter? Did you plan your route before hand; and what was it. sorry for all the questions. Have no clue what we are doing to do there.:D

Great view! We loved Key West. Had to goto the Lighthouse, girlfriend demand it. :p